A Game of Cricket....

Without a doubt, the biggest scandal to hit the Indian Cricketing world in years. All these years, it was the Pakistanis who indulged in match fixing, ball tampering, and we Indians were the clean ones. Spotless White.. Once in a blue moon, comes a cropper of an Azhar, Chetan Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar, but those are rare blips..

Suddenly we have three members in one team, the CEO of another, a Board President, tens of bookies, and a valid question by a Judge pending an answer.. If a bowler was involved, what was the batsman doing? This is definitely not the end of the saga.

Take the next part.. A President of the Board who openly refuses to resign, because he has done nothing wrong. His son in law is clean. The rule diversions to have his relative get exemptions, the fact that no one else can get this exemption is another discussion, another story.

A rumoured comment, that the team who plays under the Indian Banner is not a team that comes under a country's purview, but is a privately owned team. One wonders in this case, all the State, Central and National recognitions.. Are to whom? And the Country takes pride that "the Country" won.

Political Bigwigs taking sides, and demanding resignations. The Pawars, the Jaitely's, the Scindia's all have their lines drawn. Some indebted, some trying to settle old scores. It is now who can pull who to what extent. As that will define the ultimate power.

But all this only for a betting spot fixing scandal? Just three bowlers doing a job for bookies, which might have been in place for years? That alone cannot be a factor for such huge impacts. So much media coverage, making it a national issue, with even one person commenting to the media, that they are equally to blame, for promoting Cricket the way they do.

No doubt it is all due to the money involved. It would definitely not be in a few crores, but more in 00's or 000's of crores, where the takers would be large and many. Or some one might not have gotten his due.

The fact that sports has become a business is well known. Talent sourcing is big money, and the younger you find, the more money involved. Similar post by another blogger, Talent Hunted, speaks volumes how we as a country have found a means to live on. So what if a few people are sacrificed in the bargain

Part of the problem does remain the public, who has glorified sport and Cricket especially to such an extent, that it is now considered as God.. No longer is it a game that was meant to be enjoyed, a game that actually united the country in more ways than one, but now probably becoming just another sport, a rich man's sport..